Hon Chairperson, hon Ministers and Deputy Ministers, the Ministry of Police, hon Members of Parliament, invited guests, ladies and gentlemen, comrades and friends, the ANC will support the Budget Votes for the Department of Police and for the Independent Complaints Directorate.
The ANC study group on police noted the Constitutional Court ruling regarding the Directorate of Priority Crime Investigation, the Hawks. We noted that the ruling favoured Parliament on the issue of public participation. We remain committed to the existence of the DPCI and acknowledge the good work they are doing.
Hon members would know that the Public Protector's report on the Pretoria accommodation lease was referred by the hon Speaker to the Portfolio Committees on Police and on Public Works. The two committees, in separate meetings, resolved to process this report jointly and to await the Durban accommodation lease report on the investigation by the Public Protector.
Until such time that the process of the consideration of these two reports unfolds, we would prefer to wait for that process as the ANC so that justice can be seen to have happened. We noted with serious concern the arrest of the head of crime intelligence and other SAPS members for crimes that include a murder they are suspected to have committed in 1999. Whilst we believe in the noble principle of innocent until proven guilty, it is worrying that such senior managers are suspected in the first place. We hope that all of us will respect and allow the law to take its course.
The 2009 ANC manifesto identified crime and corruption-fighting as a priority in this five-year term of President Zuma's administration. The manifesto focuses on certain categories of crime such as violent crime and organised crime. The 2009 ANC manifesto states that, amongst other things, government should put more emphasis on, one, mobilising communities to participate in combating crime through community policing fora and street committees; two, having more police recruitment to ensure visible policing; three, strengthening police detectives and intelligence capacity; four, enhancing police training; and, five, strengthening police forensic capacity.
Participating in this debate is a real pleasure as we are not shy to report to the people of South Africa that the ANC government is doing exactly what it promised to do during 2009 in its manifesto regarding crime-fighting and even more. Members would remember that in September 2010 the Minister of Police released crime statistics that indicated that the crime rate was declining, particularly murder, which is regarded as the most reliable indicator the world over. We believe that the decline is a result of huge investment and measures that have been put in place over the years and during this time in particular.
However, I must hasten to state that the crime rate is still unacceptably high and crimes unacceptably violent. To this end, more resources in terms of finance and personnel, equipment and IT have been pumped into the SAPS. Today we are debating a budget of R58,8 billion. South Africa is still characterised by the terrible legacy of apartheid involving violence, human rights abuses, racism, and class and gender inequalities. May I remind all hon members that before 1994, the duration of police training was just six months; six months because police members were just taught that theirs was to defend apartheid at all costs, torture and kill anyone who opposed apartheid, particularly if they were black, and that was that. The more black people you killed, the more chances of promotion and recognition you got.
In the new democratic South Africa for which the ANC fought, police training, as we promised in our 2009 manifesto, has been strengthened. The new two-year curriculum introduced this year will produce members who are better qualified. In this regard, the ANC commits itself to monitoring closely the implementation of the new two-year curriculum. We will be visiting many of the SA Police Service training colleges, announced or unannounced.
Let me mention this: the Chatsworth SA Police Service Training College in KwaZulu-Natal is a real academic institution. Lecturers at that college are disciplined; they are a team and they take pride in what they are doing. In fact, our visit to that college was something we want to remember. If Chatsworth can do it, others can too.
We believe that the integrity of any training is of paramount importance. In this regard, we call upon the head office training section to conduct effective, efficient and thorough inspections - not just visits, but inspections - into these training colleges.
Let me mention here again that the Department of Police takes the largest portion of the justice, crime prevention and security cluster budget. In fact, the Department of Police takes anything from 47% or more of the cluster's budget, which in this case is R58,8 billion.
It is for this reason that as the ANC component of the Portfolio Committee on Police, we expect more from the police. We are demanding value for money. In this regard, for starters, we expect an annual performance plan that makes it possible for us to perform our constitutional responsibility of overseeing the department in terms of long-term and, more importantly, short-term targets and achievements. We are of the strong view that a correct annual performance plan serves as an effective oversight and management tool for us as members and for management.
The intensification of the fight against corruption is on course. In this regard, we want to welcome the proclamation by the President, His Excellency the honourable Mr Zuma, on the investigation of supply chain management and IT of the SA Police Service from 2005 to August 2010 by the Special Investigating Unit. We are also appreciative of the fact that the SA Police Service requested the department to include it on the list of departments to be investigated. We believe that this is the right thing to do.
Others in this House define corruption along racial lines. In fact, you must be black in order to be corrupt or practice nepotism. You may be the director, your husband the deputy director, your daughter with only matric the service provider, but as long as you are not black that is not corruption or nepotism. You will detect this if you listen carefully as they raise issues of corruption and nepotism. We remain objectively committed towards fighting all corruption. We will be waiting with keen interest for the outcome of the SIU investigations.
Forensic services in the history of this country have never been better than they are today. The entry level for forensic analysts was increased to Level 7 from 1 March 2011. Their remuneration is higher than the remuneration offered to those in other public service departments. Crime scene experts will be capacitated with equipment and vehicles to improve their effectiveness, and there is a budget for that. A laboratory in KwaZulu-Natal is at an advanced stage of construction and should be completed in the first quarter of 2011. A total of 750 new additional personnel will be hired in the forensic service laboratory environment in 2011-12. The Minister is right: it is the first time in many years that the biology department, DNA, reported that it did not have backlogs in DNA testing. [Applause.] Do you know why? It is because that backlog was man-made and manipulated for political reasons, and that is a fact.
The department reported a 48% reduction in the chemistry backlog and a 5% reduction in backlogs in questioned documents. However, the questioned documents unit does not have a growing backlog and it is reported that there is no backlog in ballistics.
May we remind members that we said in our 2009 ANC manifesto that we would strengthen police forensic capacity, and we are doing exactly that. The change of the head of forensics by the National Commissioner Gen Cele, from Gen Du Toit to Gen Phahlane, has brought about this change. We could not say this in the 2009-10 Budget Vote debate. In fact, it was as though backlogs were part and parcel of forensic services. We will continue, though, to robustly monitor the work of forensic laboratories. Before I run out of time, I want to congratulate the Independent Complaints Directorate on the good and well-prepared annual performance plan and properly revised strategic plan which they tabled in Parliament on time. The ICD's annual performance plan meets almost all of National Treasury's instructions and, for that matter, the ICD was sure about that. We do appreciate that. Also, the Secretariat presented an annual performance plan document that is equally good. Monitoring these entities will be very easy in terms of budget spending and the meeting of targets on a quarterly basis.
Hon Minister, the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority, the PSIRA, is on the right course. It presented a turnaround strategy which surprised all of us. All members of the portfolio committee agreed that we are cautiously optimistic. Surely, the PSIRA still has a long way to go. We will be awaiting a new PSIRA Bill as we believe that the PSIRA should be legislated. Minister, your strategic appointments of ICD Executive Director, the Secretariat and the PSIRA council are now bearing fruit, and on that we congratulate you.
The ANC cannot just accept changes that cannot be explained. The reduction in contact crime targets from 7% to 10% to 4% to 7% must be explained. We think that it is out of order for the department to even suggest that this might be linked with the Minister's service performance agreement.
We told the department last year, long before the Minister signed the service performance agreement with the President, that we needed reasons which were drawn from scientific findings, lessons learnt from the implementation of this target from 2004, and from the study of international best practices. For now, no one has explained to us why it is 4% to 7%, and not 3% to 6%, not 2% to 7%, not 7% to 10%, etc. we have requested the department to get this information.
Unions, during the budget hearings, raised issues around lateral-entry appointments. They indicated that this was being abused. The response we received from the department on this issue indicated that a total of 21 members were lateral-entry appointments, which were regulated, out of a total of 564 that were appointed following the normal route from August 2009.
We hope that in all these 21 cases there were exceptional circumstances which warranted the deviation from the normal route. We will, therefore, want to satisfy ourselves in this regard.
Whilst the R1,1 billion allocated for the purchasing of vehicles will go a long way towards addressing vehicle needs, there is a need to put much more effective control measures in place. This will also be an area of focus for the portfolio committee this year.
The community policing forums are an important vehicle for community participation in the fight against crime. We think it is important at this time to express appreciation for the work which CPF members are performing voluntarily in the fight against crime. We are of the view that funding the CPF officers and training is a step in the right direction. The revised CPF guidelines and framework will go a long way towards standardising the work of CPFs.
Let me mention that the festive season and other busy season's operations are appreciated by all South Africans. Yes, Minister, during previous festive seasons, police members were once more abundantly visible. They sacrificed the warmth of their families to protect us, and we appreciate that. We also congratulate the department, in particular the national commissioner and the chief financial officer for receiving unqualified audit opinions as the norm now.
As I close, we remain committed to assisting the department in its quest to fight crime through our effective and robust oversight work, without any fear or favour. The ANC manifestos are not just documents meant for election campaigns. They form the basis of our work during that term. We are on course; working together we will bring about peace, security and stability to our society. The struggle continues. Victory is certain. I thank you. [Applause.]